GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The International Red Cross (ICRC) statement 28 August was startling in its simplicity: “Most of our relief and protection activities in Pakistan, including visits to detainees, come to an end.” The organization says it is making the decision to dramatically scale down what was, in 2011, one of the largest ICRC operations […]

Geneva wineries open house day celebrates its 25th year GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Geneva’s Caves Ouvertes, or winery open house day, has good reason to celebrate this year. It is the 25th year of the event and in that short time it has gone from a handful of visitors in 1987 to an estimated 20,000 last […]

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The International Red Cross in Geneva says that it is “extremely concerned about the deteriorating health condition of six Palestinian detainees who have been on hunger strike for between 47 and 71 days.” More than 1,600 people being held in what is called “administrative detention: by Israeli authorities have been on a […]

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – An ICRC (International Red Cross) official has told news agency Reuters that its staff has visited Seif al-Islam Qaddafi in Zintan, in western Libya, where he is being held. The ICRC limited its comments to the fact he appears to be in good health, noting that he is one of 8,500 people […]

LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Canton Vaud’s 12 historic chateaus, open to the public, are joining together to offer a special deal at the end of September to encourage people to learn more about this aspect of local history. A single ticket will open the door to all 12 the weekend of 24-25 September, for CHF15 for […]

Update 21:00 SION, SWITZERLAND - It doesn’t get much more perfect for wine-tasting weather, as Switzerland’s largest wine-producing canton opens its winery doors for three days, to present the newly bottled 2010 vintage. It was a very good year, the wines are a delight, the sun is shining and temperatures are expected to be 23-25C […]

Here are my personal recommendations for places to visit during the Valais wineries Open Days Thursday-Saturday, 13-15 May. This is far from exhaustive, given the 179 wineries participating. And not all wineries are part of this, including some excellent ones, for a variety of reasons. To keep the list reasonable, I’ve had to leave out […]